AERO Friedrichshafen: A Strong International Showing for General Aviation

Friedrichshafen– “Once again, the AERO has proven its international influence, industry visitors – a large percentage of whom are pilots – came from around the world to the international industry meeting for general aviation at LakeConstance.” On Saturday, Messe Friedrichshafen CEO Klaus Wellmann and AERO project leader Roland Bosch characterized the results of the AERO as exceptionally positive: “With 630 exhibitors from 35 countries, the quality aviation summit not only had the right mix of products and services, but the response from customers also made for a lot of happy faces: 32,600 visitors (2012: 30,800) – 70 percent of whom were highly-qualified international visitors from the industry – showed great interest in the new aircraft, technical innovations and in the many expert lectures at the show. An industry publication revealed that the AERO had more type certifications for new aircraft than any international aviation show to date.

Everything that flies - except commercial airliners and military aircraft - takes center stage at the AERO. Everything was represented atLakeConstance: Ultralight and Very Light Aircraft (VLA), one and two-engine aircraft, turboprops and gyrocopters, kites and trikes as well as the entire world of suppliers and service providers. Maintenance, avionics and the latest business jets in general aviation were there, complemented by electric aircraft and helicopters. The show organizers credit the presence of exhibitors from the glider industry, who returned in 2013, for this year’s marked increase in visitor numbers.

The aviation show is the number one show inEuropefor companies in general aviation. As project leader Roland Bosch puts it: “The show atLakeConstanceis an especially important meeting for industry experts. This is where engineers and builders meet; there’s an exchange of views at a very high level. This is especially evident at the conferences and international meetings, but also in the special shows dealing with different propulsion systems, research flights (observe by air), and flight control and navigation devices. This is where experts can put the newest equipment to its first real practical test.

Exhibitor Comments

Christian Dries, CEO, Diamond Aircraft Industries GmbH: “The AERO Friedrichshafenis just really good. Internationally, and I’m not the only one who says this, it is the most important and best general aviation trade show in the world.” Otmar Birkner, CEO, AutoGyro GmbH:“This year’s AERO went very well and we can sense that informed visitors had considerable interest in our product. Our appearance here at the show is centered on providing information about different applications and presenting our concepts. The good infrastructure and the ability to reach an international audience here at the show certainly justify the effort. In any case, our 20-person team here at the show was certainly not bored.” Dr. Nicolas von Mende, CEO, Atlas Air Service AG:“This year, for the first time, we used a new concept for presentation here, to best represent all of our business areas. We are presenting our business jets at the static display and in the exhibition hall itself we are showing off our services, such as training, maintenance, etc. That way, we can cover the entire spectrum of Atlas Air. So far, the new concept has been quite successful. Presenting at the AERO is a must for us, so we can cultivate relationships with our customers and talk with other players in the industry. This is definitely the place where everyone in the industry gets together.”

AERO Conference:

The high-level lectures and presentations at the AERO Conference were also well-attended. For the future, the AERO team wants to bring the next generation on board and get them excited about careers in the cockpit.

The next AERO will take place from April 9th to 12th 2014 at the exhibition grounds in Friedrichshafen. More information is available at www.aero-expo.com.